Table 4.
Changes in carer distress due to their patient’s breathlessness and carer anxiety, by trial arm, for carers of patients with non-malignant conditions
| t1a | t2 | t3 | t4 | t5 | Difference in mean t3 adjusted for baseline (I minus C) | With 95 % confidence interval | p-value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean (SD) | Mean (SD) | Mean (SD) | Mean (SD) | Mean (SD) | ||||
| Control arm (waiting list) | Baseline | Control | Completed control | Midway intervention | Completed intervention | |||
| Intervention arm (fast-track) | Baseline | Midway intervention | Completed intervention | Post-intervention | Post-intervention | |||
| Carer NRS distress due to patient’s breathlessness (0-10)b | ||||||||
| Control arm (waiting list) | 4.24 (2.72) | 4.48 (3.06) | 4.44 (3.14) | 3.67 (2.88) | 4.04 (3.21) | -0.42 | (-1.86,1.02) | p = 0.56 |
| Intervention arm (fast-track) | 5.30 (2.67) | 4.22 (2.92) | 4.27 (2.48) | n/a | 4.25 (2.99) | |||
| Key secondary outcomes: | ||||||||
| Carer HADSb anxiety (0-21) | ||||||||
| Control arm (waiting list) | 7.55 (4.54) | 7.74 (5.22) | 7.40 (5.24) | 7.42 (6.34) | 7.08 (5.92) | -1.22 | (-2.84,0.40) | p = 0.14 |
| Intervention arm (fast-track) | 7.65 (5.19) | 7.00 (4.69) | 6.00 (4.29) | n/a | 6.90 (5.08) | |||
| No. of respondents | 44 | 46 | 51 | 24 | 45 | |||
aFor those with a t3 score
bHigh score is worse